The department's 67 sworn officers and booking clerks have been put on a daily regime of pumping iron, monitoring their cardiovascular rate, and following a nutritional diet to make them the leanest of local law enforcement teams.

The voluntary wellness program, which includes height and weight standards as well as maximum percentage of body fat, will gradually be turned into a mandatory policy designed to keep chubby cops off the road.

Liquori, a self-proclaimed fitness fanatic, said the benefits of the program include increased safety for patrol officers and the public, relief of stress, and a decrease in sick time. It is an extension of fitness standards for police recruits that Liquori created when he took the job four years ago. Altamonte Springs is the first city in Seminole County to initiate a wellness program and one of three cities that require minimum physical performance standards for new officers.

''It's the up and coming thing,'' said Sgt. Jim Perry, who was sent with Detective Dave Vender to the Institute of Physical Fitness in Lakeland to learn how to set up Altamonte's wellness program. ''If we have standards, it only makes sense to provide our employees with the knowledge and means to do it.''

Perry and Vender joined officers from departments across the country at the fitness school to learn how to educate and motivate employees to stay with a regular exercise program. Because statistics show heart attacks are the number one killer of police officers, it is the responsibility of both the department and officers to prevent heart problems, Liquori said.

Police officers are often asked to jump into athletic pursuits or maneuvers with little or no notice, causing severe physical and emotional stress, Perry said. As a preventative measure, Altamonte Springs police are working toward a total fitness program that includes flexibility exercises, weight lifting and running or biking to improve the officer's cardiovascular rate.

The department has a slick, mirrored gym with $20,000 of the latest in fitness equipment. Also, Perry and Vender analyze employees and place them in a program that will fit their body type and fitness needs.

During the four weeks the program has been used, 60 percent of the department's patrol officers have begun a regular program of weight-lifting three days a week and a 20-minute cardiovascular workout five days a week.

Last month officers were measured for percent of body fat. Roughly a quarter of the 72 people tested scored above the maximum standards of 18 percent body fat for men and 20 percent for women. The special investigative division had the best body fat ratio average of 13.75 percent while detectives were at the high end of the scale with a 21 pecent average.

Within the next two years, Liquori said he hopes to replace the department's height and weight standards with the body fat measurement. But the requirement will be phased in gradually to give officers a chance to prepare to meet the new standards. Officers will be tested every six months and those who do not fall within the fitness requirements will receive a letter from the chief warning that it is time to shape up.

Lt. Steve Garver, operations bureau commander, said he was surprised at his fitness test results and did not realize how his body has changed after two years of desk work. Garver, who started out as a patrolman 18 years ago, said his goal will be to drop the 15 pounds he has gained while pushing a pencil behind a desk.

Altamonte Springs, Casselberry and Winter Springs are the only cities that require applicants to pass a fitness test before they are hired as police officers. The tests vary, but Altamonte's is the most strenuous, requiring recruits to do 35 push ups in one minute, 35 sit ups for women and 46 for men in one minute, 15 pull-ups for men and a 25-second hang for women. Also, they must fall within a certain cardiovascular range for their age after riding a stationary bike for six minutes.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Department and the Sanford Police Department both have in-house gyms for their employees. Capt. Roy Hughey, spokesman for the sheriff's department, said the $8,000 in weights in their third-floor weight room is only used by about 20 percent of the deputies because ''basically there's just not that much interest.''

Steve Harriett, Sanford's police chief, said he could not estimate how many of his officers used the $5,300 worth of equipment but said it is ''well used.'' The general awareness of physical fitness has spilled over into the law enforcement community, and the desire to project a professional image has prompted more interest in fitness at his department, Harriett said.

Police chiefs in Casselberry, Winter Springs, Longwood and Oviedo said they were investigating adding workout rooms to their departments. Winter Springs' new police department has a room and Police Chief John Govoruhk said he is hoping to have money to buy equipment by the end of the year. Longwood's police department will move into its new headquarters in January, however, Chief Greg Manning said it is difficult to rate an officer's work according to his weight.

''I'm willing to sacrifice some problems with weight for job quality,'' Manning said.